Chapter 11

Everyday since he sent that letter to K's ex-wife, Hiro thought about it. He wondered if he made the right decision to do something like that. But what he thought about most was, if she would read it and would she care? Everyday he also checked the mailbox before K could, in case the letter came back here. He had addressed it, using his old Vancouver addresses, but who knows, she could send it back here, Hiro thought.

He'd also decided that if there was no response in one month, he'd send another and then another. Hiro even thought about calling her, but he'd wait on this letter first.

Right now he was busy herding the cows into their pen for feeding—that letter clinging to his mind. "Go on," he told them, clapping a dusty gloved hand over a cow's side.

"Careful now or you'll get kicked," K warned Hiro just like so many times before about getting too close behind possible bucking cows.

"Sorry," Hiro muttered.

K, who was helping out with this herding looked over at Hiro with concern, "What's your problem today? You're off in space."

"It's nothing, I was just thinking," Hiro replied and gave K a warm smile. No, nothing was wrong really. He picked up the pace to assure K he wasn't wimping out or anything.

After the last first-year past the gate, K swung it closed, "Is it that County Fair?" he asked.

"The fair? Oh, is that today…I completely forgot about it," Hiro said and took off his gloves, stuffing them partially into his back pocket.

K was looking dubiously at him then.

"What?" Hiro questioned.

Hmm, Hiro seemed so distracted in the last few days, but he'd forgotten about the fair. That was odd, K thought. "Did you want to go?"

Grey eyes flashed over at K as they cut open a bag of grains to mix with hay for another group's feeding. "I'd love to go, I never been to a small town fair," Hiro admitted.

"Then we'll go," K affirmed, "Trust me I don't really want to, but, I feel bad for walking out on my aunt the other day. She didn't do anything wrong…we'll go see her quilt, ok?"

Hiro nodded enthusiastically.

Yeehaw! Hiro was happy about going to the fair! As soon as K told him to go clean up, he did. He'd hustled so hard to get everything done today and K even cut the chores short. Washing the grime off and humming a tune, he jumped when K opened the shower curtain to join him. Purr!

Twenty minutes later, declaring quickies were the best; Hiro pulled on a pair of black jeans and slipped into a fitted white t-shirt. And since it was cooler today, he tossed on his short black, long sleeved jean jacket. He returned to the bathroom where K was already dressed in blue jeans and a white button up shirt, brushing his teeth.

Hiro smacked his fine rear before grabbing a hair brush off the counter. K frowned at him but he stood with a huge grin on his face, brushing his hair as K brushed his pearly whites. "I'm likin' that belt buckle you got on," Hiro mentioned as he caught a view of it in the mirror.

K rinsed and placed his toothbrush away. He held the solid pewter, oval cast iron belt buckle with the relief of a gun on it between his fingers, "It's a Winchester, 1885 model; my father gave it to me."

"It's nice," Hiro told him, looking away. K was so lucky he'd had a father like that.

Shortly after Hiro was outside, revving the truck engine. Once again K was tailing behind. But Hiro noticed that this time K carried a long case in his hand as he hurried towards the truck—a gun case.

When K got into the truck, Hiro asked, "You going to compete?"

"I'm going to win me a trophy and a gun," K bragged.

Hiro cheered, "Well, alright!"

Off they went to the Cranbrook 16th Annual County Fair, which was on the other side of town, held on the honorary fair grounds. It was a big empty field made up mostly of gravel, the perfect size for a county fair. Situated off the main highway, it was easy for tourists to find as well. Hiro parked the truck and they got out.

The lot was pretty full, at least a hundred cars and trucks. People were milling around, kids ran wild with balloons, music filled the air and an auction voice could be heard selling off some piece of farm equipment. There were rides; even a Ferris wheel and vendors sold tickets and cotton candy. Mmm, but one thing hit Hiro's nose, the aroma of freshly baked pies!

K looked around a bit apprehensively as they entered the free fair, boots crunching under gravel. Around them large tents were erected, all holding various attractions. There were prized vegetables, fruit preserves, crafts of all kinds, smaller animals such as chickens and geese. Some had already been tagged with blue, white and red ribbons representing first, second and third place. Then they passed pens holding the county's best bulls, cows, pigs, horses, goats and sheep. But off at the end of the festivities was a counter with the abbreviation CSSA (Canadian Shooting Sport Association) logo in black and white draped over it.

"I need to go register," K finally spoke to Hiro.

The redhead nodded. "Of course, let's go." He looked around, "I don't see your aunt yet," he wondered out loud.

"She's probably around here somewhere," K suggested.

"Oh, before I forget, here are your sunglasses. It's sunny today; don't you need them to shoot?" Hiro asked, he took them off himself and handed them to K.

Hiro was always stealing his glasses, K realized amusingly and took them back. "Yea, they'll come in handy," he said and hung them in the V of his shirt.

They walked over to the shooting contest counter and Hiro let K do his business. He spied the area, half listening to the fine details of the shooting competition. There were a few people looking their way, he realized and sighed. If it was one thing, he hoped no one would get on K's case today. But he could live with a few stares.

"—ten shots all prone, standing and kneeling. Targets will be changed after each shot and we have range judges that will decide the winner. First you'll have to pass the elimination match, after that it'll be knocked down to only twenty shooters, then ten, then five…the judges will decide the ultimate winner based on your points."

Hiro looked at K who shrugged as he took a pamphlet and some papers from the guy.

"I like your name 'Winchester' any relation to the gun maker?" asked the older gentleman behind the CSSA counter.

"Not at all," K said and added smartly, "If I was I might've won my divorce settlement."

The guy laughed uncomfortably and eyed Hiro.

Hiro shrugged, he couldn't control K's weird sense of humour.

"So, the prize…is it really a Browning twenty-eight?" wondered K.

"Oh yes," the CSSA guy replied. "It's a beaut! It's the latest model, comes with an interchangeable Inflex Recoil Pad system, a striker-based mechanical trigger system, chrome chamber and a white bead front sight. It's valued at two thousand dollars."

"It's going to be mine," K assured the man.

The man laughed contrarily. "Well, good luck to you then sir."

K tipped his hat and bid the man adieu.

Hiro followed K once they left and asked, "So when does the game start?"

"Half hour, it's a good thing we didn't fool around too long," K quipped just as someone called.

They turned to see Jared waving at them; he wandered over donning jeans, a black t-shirt and an orange trucker hat. With him were his wife, and his daughter who looked to be about nine.

"Hi Jared," Hiro said in a friendly manner, he nodded at the wife and kid.

K shook the man's hand and then his wife's. "Brought the family huh?" he mentioned and observed the little girl licking at an ice cream cone that was melting all over her hand.

"I'm surprised to see you here Claude," said Jared, "You know Molly my wife and Elizabeth my daughter…say, was that you at the shooting competition table?"

K nodded the last time he saw Elizabeth she was a little squirt. "Yes that was me," he said.

"Damn…" drawled Jared, "Those guys have no idea what their in for—good for you friend, good for you."

Hiro chuckled and K tried not to look smug.

"Well, I'll see ya around Jared, I got to see my aunt's quilt, you understand right?" K told the guy.

"Oh yeah I saw her around the corner can't miss it," Jared offered and walked off. "I'll be sure to check out the shooting later."

Just as they started after the quilt stand someone else went, "Oh my god, Claude, is that you?!"

Hiro watched a very pretty blonde woman about his height walk over and give K a big hug. He looked amused as K stood there sort of surprised, a blush coursing over his cheeks. Hmm, who was this woman?

"Shelly?" K said and stepped back. "I barely recognized you."

Then she swatted his arm playfully and said, "I heard bad things about you, but look at ya. You look great; I haven't seen you in year's man! What brings you here now?"

K gave Hiro a tight smile and looked back at the woman, "I dunno, just thought I'd check things out. Um, this here is my friend Hiroshi," he introduced.

Hiro held out his hand for a shake and the woman took it happily.

"We used to date in high school," K clarified to Hiro who he knew was waiting patiently for an explanation.

"Ahh," Hiro sounded and chuckled. "Wow. That must have been a long time ago."

"Geez, don't remind me," Shelly said and rolled her eyes.

They all laughed.

"Oh, look here's my husband now," she said as a freakishly large man met up with them.

He held out a bag of popcorn to them in his great paw, "Care for some?" he rumbled.

Hiro and K's jaw dropped as they looked up and up, eyes wide; at the biggest man they'd ever seen. Clearly he was an entire head taller than K. His arms were the size of tree trunks, shoulders as long as a football field—ok maybe not that wide—but there was muscles popping out of…everywhere.

They gulped and waved their hands 'no' at the popcorn.

"This is Johnny," Shelly sang and pat her husbands arm.

"Hi…" both K and Hiro said uneasily.

"It was great seeing you again Claude, but we have to find Gran-mama, she's baking pies for the pie eating contest later. Johnny's gonna win that," Shelly bragged and wandered off, the Yeti following her closely.

Hiro stared after them and murmured incredulously, "I bet he could have swallowed us both in one go."

"And she just ran up and hugged me…" K replied with a nervous chuckle.

Hiro clapped K on the back and they laughed about it as they went to find Aunt Margaret. She beamed when she saw them and hugged them both. K took a moment to apologize to his aunt but the woman waved it off. Instead she showed them what she called The Family quilt. It was a mixture of Winchesters, McAllisters and the Gatlings after K's mother's maiden name. There were many squares all displaying symbols and pictures, dates and whatnot, all holding some meaning of the family.

K was touched beyond words.

"This is beautiful," Hiro breathed as he looked over each square on the beige quilt, separated by blue squares. He saw a picture of Michael copied onto a piece of fabric that was occupying one square. Aww, he was so cute. Then he looked at another and smirked, "Is that K as a baby?!" Hiro voiced loudly. He began to giggle, "Naw, look at those curls…I can see your bottom."

K turned red.

"Yes, Claude had the curliest blond hair as an infant. I was there when that photo was taken, his mother, Sara, had just given him a bath," Margaret recounted as she looked at the photo of baby Claude lying on his tummy, his rear on display—he had the happiest smile for the camera. "That was just before he got into his mother's talcum powder…oh lord, we were to busy chatting when Claude crawled into his mother's room, stole the powder off the dresser. We walked in to see him sitting on the floor squeezing it all out—big clouds of dust. It was everywhere! But, at least he smelled like an angel," she cooed.

Hiro was sniggering so hard he had tears in his eyes.

"Oh, please stop," K begged and glanced at his watch.

"Are you in a rush hunnie?" his aunt wondered.

Only Hiro blasted, "He joined the shooting competition!"

"Thank you for that Hiro," K said sarcastically and turned to his aunt, "Yes, I joined it. Time I cleaned up the Winchester name, huh?"

Margaret glowed with a brilliant smile. "Oh, what a wonderful day!" she claimed. "Then don't waste time here, get going and knock 'em dead!"

K hugged his aunt and promised he'd do just that.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the CSSA's 16th Annual Shooting competition!" announced the emcee. "Today we have with us a group of talented men and women that will entertain us today with some of the best shooting in the county! Points will be awarded based on accuracy, closer to the target, higher the points. Now we ask that all non-participating folk to please stay away from the hot zone, because safety is the CSSA's top priority!"

K chewed on a lip and fidgeted with dust balls in his pockets.

"Are you alright?" Hiro questioned when he glanced at K. They were standing behind the speaker with the group of other shooters. It looked a bit like a soccer field with stands, only the stands where on short end of the field. At the other end was a series of black and white targets, all with numbers starting at zero to the center which was ten points.

The blonde sighed and confided, "Everyone is going to watch me…even though I know I can out-shoot all these chumps."

Stage fright, Hiro understood ALL about that. "Just focus on the one thing that brought you here, do it for that, do it because you love it. Do it for yourself, your aunt…Michael."

K smiled then, he wished he could give Hiro a big hug. "I'll do it for you too." K squeezed his hand secretively. "I have to go set up my baby and find my place."

Hiro nodded and watched K walk away; only he stopped in his tracks and came back. K's lips floated next to his ear and whispered.

"I love you…Hiroshi"

Without another word K stalked off to do his thing and left Hiro standing there utterly breathless. Hiro realized his mouth was hanging open and closed it. Looking around, he hoped no one caught his bombshell. With a thumping heart, Hiro wandered off to find a good seat all while wearing a joyful smile. The show began and the murmur from the crowd soon got drowned out by gunfire.

It was kind of a slow process, Hiro realized, anxious to see K in action—he wasn't really interested in anyone else. It took at least an hour before most of the shooters were weeded out by the process of elimination. Finally, it was K's turn.

"Did I miss anything?" spoke Aunt Margaret's voice as she sat down next to Hiro.

"Oh, hey…no, K is up right now," Hiro stated and pointed down below.

He held his breath as K stood all rigid, one leg behind the other, with his long rifle held up to his eye level. Hiro admired how prominent K looked in his sunglasses and his blonde low-hanging ponytail reaching as far as his tailbone. He was also wearing his new Stetson that he'd talked him into getting a few days ago, a beige number with a brown suede band around the crown.

"He looks good," Hiro murmured out loud.

Aunt Margaret gave Hiro a contemplative look before she spoke, "Yes, yes he does."

K hit all the targets dead on.

"Bullseye!" Hiro cheered from his seat. "It's too bad those points won't be added to the real score," he complained.

The crowd gave K a hefty applause for his talent.

"Elimination over—Round one begins as soon as the scores from the elimination round are counted," said the emcee.

It was down to twenty people now. This time it didn't take so long before K got his turn again. This was such a piece of cake, the targets were only a hundred yards away, K thought but they would go farther back after each round. There was some serious competition here but K didn't feel so nervous now that the party got started. He caught a silent look with Hiro from his seat in the stands, he just watched. It didn't feel so hard to say 'I love you' after all. The moment was there and he took it. "Winchester!" He barely heard his name being called, this time for prone position shooting—his favorite.

Back up in the stands…

"You know Winchester rings a bell."

Hiro glanced behind him when he heard that. It was an older woman and an older man, he listened.

"Yeah, wasn't there a gentleman that used to win all the shooting competitions years ago? But he died awhile back…is that Winchester, his son?"

"Do you think so? But I thought that guy went weird and barely came off his ranch? Some say he went crazy after his wife left, you remember, in the papers."

"Yeah, but that's got to be him, I mean he looks a lot like his father."

Aunt McAllister leaned over to Hiro. "Seems a few people still remember," Margaret said quietly to Hiro.

Hiro leaned closer to Margaret too. "I wish they'd stop calling him 'weird' or 'crazy'. He's a normal guy, he just needed someone around that cared," Hiro explained hotly, his eyes focused on K down below racking up the points.

"You mean he needed you, right?" the old woman said daringly.

Hiro flashed his eyes at Margaret now. "I…I just wanted to be there," he stammered.

She smiled, "What, do you think because I'm an old woman I live in a box?" She patted Hiro on the arm, "Surely I didn't expect this, but Claude is happy and you're such a sweetie. This isn't the stone age hunnie."

He couldn't hide the blush now and the old woman took advantage of his disposition. She shamelessly pinched one of his flushed cheeks, he whined and rubbed his face when she was done.

"Come now, you're missing everything," Margaret said, waving at the competition below.

Hiro grinned in disbelief to himself. Well I'll be damned, he thought.

They turned to watch the rest of the contest, in which K was first in the standings—not surprising. By the time it came to the final round, the blond turned to give them a thumbs up. He was the first shooter and in this round the targets were four hundred yards away. All the rifles were now equipped with their scopes and K looked confident.

Hiro sipped from his soda, teeth clenched on the straw as K took aim. He fired.

"First shot, ten points!" spoke the emcee.

A new target appeared on the left side of the long field, making K take new aim.

"Second shot, ten points!"

Hiro huffed, "I dunno why I'm so edgy. He's amazing."

Aunt Margaret smiled as she watched her nephew easily display his shooting prowess. K had shot perfect on all his targets. "I'm so proud," she murmured and wiped at her eye.

When K was done, he packed his rifle back up and came over to where Hiro and Margaret sat. "Well, that was fun," he said and took a seat next to Hiro, stealing his drink and finishing it. He handed it back to Hiro.

Hiro took the empty cup and told K how awesome he was. They all talked about the sport, watching the last shooters do their stuff. It was all over in under an hour and now all they had to do was wait for the announcements.

"Winners will be announced in a few moments ladies and gentlemen! CSSA thanks you for joining us here today; please give all our competitors a big round of applause—they did some mighty shootin' today!"

Everyone clapped loudly in the stands and waited anxiously for the winners. A few minutes past before the emcee came back to the mic.

"Today's big winner, with a perfect score of three-hundred is…Claude K. Winchester!"

Part of the crowd went "Huh?" and the other half cheered for him.

K snickered.

"Wow, perfect," Hiro managed as the emcee began naming off the second and third place winners. "Well, go on, go get your prize!"

"You guys come down with me," K invited. He smiled when his aunt and Hiro got up with him. They followed K down to a small podium, and the man they'd talked to at the register counter handed him a trophy with a little shooting man on it. He also handed over the biggest prize, a case that held the Browning 28 that K wanted so badly.

"Congratulations Mr. Winchester," the CSSA guy said, clearly astonished.

K leaned over to the man, "Didn't I say I'd win this baby?" He chuckled, took the prizes and began to leave.

"Wait!" called the guy. "Don't you want to say a few words to the audience?"

K looked uneasily from the crowd to the podium. "Do I have to?" he whispered close enough for it to pass through the microphone.

The crowd laughed.

He scratched his head embarrassed and wandered back. K leaned into the mic, "Err…thanks," he said and tipped his hat—then he bee-lined it out of there. Hiro and his aunt followed until he'd led them all the way back to the quilt stand.

"Well, as much as I loved watching you shoot K that was the most boring sport I ever watched!" Hiro moaned.

K and Margaret laughed.

Hiro smiled faintly and was going to say more when he heard the sharp yips and whines of some kind of furry creatures close by. He looked over curiously at the stand next to the quilts and saw that they were giving away free puppies! As K and his aunt talked, he wandered away to look into a basket full of baby golden retrievers.

"Hiro?" K asked when he saw the redhead walk off in a trance. He chuckled and told his aunt, "One sec, I'll be right back."

Hiro wasn't listening; he was too busy picking up one of the soft golden pups with floppy ears. "Aww, aren't they cute," he told the farm girl who didn't seem to mind as he picked one up.

She smiled and told him they were free. "Sadly, I've only been able to give away two so far. They make great farm dogs," she said.

Hiro pet the one he had gently as it licked his chin, so easily a trusting, loving animal.

"Can I take him next door for a moment?" Hiro asked. The girl gave him the go ahead and when he turned he almost bumped right into K.

"You have a habit of just taking off, and what do you have there?" K questioned, eyeing the dog.

"Can't we take him home?" Hiro pleaded. "The ranch could use a dog and the girl over there said only two were picked up today. What will happen to them if no one takes them to a home?"

K didn't want to answer that question. "Look, Hiro right now is not a good time," K said sternly.

Hiro said nothing as he returned the puppy to the basket; he turned away with a heavy heart and he wasn't smiling when he returned to K's side. "Where's the new gun and trophy?" he asked, noticing K wasn't carrying it.

"With my aunt, I don't want to cart them around all over the place," K said to a pouty looking Hiro. He sighed. "Look, Hiro I'm sor—"

"—Claude, congratulations buddy!" Jared called from out of nowhere. The big man came over and patted K on the back boisterously. "That was some fine shootin' everyone is jealous," he said excitedly. "Hey, they're about to start the pie eating contest over there, come on," he urged.

Hiro and K followed the lumberjack through the crowd of people. Many pointed at K in recognition after today's shooting event as they did too. They came to a tent that had a bunch of fold up tables set next together to create one long line. There were ten seats and nine guys filled them, ready to start a pie eating contest. One of the men was the Yeti they met earlier with K's highschool sweetheart Shelly.

K and Hiro glanced at each other.

"Ladies and gentleman we're short one man! We only need one more person before we can start this contest, come on, it's apple pie!" announced a robust host.

"Hiroshi will join!" Jared volunteered and shoved Hiro towards the tent, "He's a good sport!"

HUH?! Hiro began to retreat. "Oh, no…no, no…I can't."

From behind K heard a young woman say, "Isn't that that guy that sang at Trails and Tails last week?"

"Yeah and he also rode the bull…he's soo cute!" her friend squealed.

"COME ON HIRO YOU CAN DO IT!" both girls cried out and giggled.

Hiro turned unrepentantly at the taunt and looked at them stupefied. The girls waved at him…heh. He began to scratch his head unsure. "Uh…I dunno I'm not that big of an eater." He giggled nervously.

"Go on Hiro, it's just for fun," Jared encouraged.

K stepped up, "He doesn't have to do it if he doesn't want to, but, it would be fun to see."

OH! He didn't! Betrayed by his own lover…he shot K a look. But K only shrugged and grinned at him. Hmm, those pies, they sure did smell good and he had to admit he was thinking about them all afternoon. He hadn't eaten since breakfast. Hiro began to push up his jacket sleeves and declared, "I'll do it!"

The girls behind them cheered.

But before he went, Hiro smirked and leaned over to whisper into K's ear, "I love you too."

K could have melted on the spot; instead he winked and laughed raucously as Hiro thrust his hat into his hands. K watched him take a seat at the far end of the table. He noticed a small crowd gathered to watch. All the guys at the table were pretty hefty sized men…K didn't think Hiro stood a chance. He felt a little worried for Hiro, he was so small in comparison but K really admired his nerve.

Hiro cast K a goofy look as he folded a large white napkin into the neck of his shirt. Then out came the pies, he was quite certain he'd only be able to finish one. Oh, well, at least he got a free meal.

"They got forks," Jared mentioned sadly, "I thought it was going to be one of those messy contests, you know where they make you eat with your hands behind you, face first."

That would have been too much and too funny, K thought and chuckled. He watched as everybody began to tuck into the pies. With a smirk on his face K watched as Hiro daintily ate small forkfuls as the other men shoveled it in. He chortled, Hiro was too cute!

Although, Hiro didn't feel cute, he felt like the turtle of the bunch. Clearly he was a slow eater compared to the others. He'd only finished off half of his pie—which was delicious by the way—as the others all moved onto a second nine inch pie.

"Still got room?" Jared called from the crowd, chuckling all the while.

Hiro gave them a thumbs up. It felt weird having so many people watching him eat, but when he saw K smiling it was all worth it.

"Go Hiro!" the girls behind K and Jared encouraged.

Swallowing a mouthful of warm apple pie, Hiro looked at the girls and watched K palm over his face. Yeah, he felt exactly how K did at this very moment. He sighed and continued to stuff his face. Surprisingly, he decided he had room for a second pie. All that hard work on the ranch had awarded him a bigger appetite.

Just because he wasn't a big man, didn't mean he couldn't eat.

K looked on surprised.

"Heh, maybe he's got a third leg," Jared teased and nudged at K.

"Yeah, but he's only on his second, those other guys are on their forth!" K exclaimed disbelievingly, watching his lover now prop an elbow on the table to hold his head up. He looked like a tired student studying at the library. "He's getting full," K told Jared, "Hiro always does that elbow thing when he is forcing himself to finish."

Hiro wasn't so hungry anymore, but he didn't want to just give up. Two other guys had already but they'd eaten too fast and too much. Dammit, he wanted to at least finish this second pie! His stomach gurgled and he placed his fork down, he needed to take a breath. He spied the crowd all looking greatly entertainment from this silly contest, ugh, Hiro stared evilly at his pie. It was so good when this started, but now, now he was sure he would never look at another pie the same way again! He would chuckle, but then it would shake his midsection…and, it wasn't feeling so well.

K saw the green look coming over Hiro's features, poor guy. He wished he would give it up already.

Hiro burped and discovered he had just a little more room. Determined, he finished all of his second pie! "Ok, I'm done! Please, no more pies!" he cried, wiping his face with a napkin and tossing it on the table.

The small crowd clapped and hooted.

Fellow pie-eating-contestants nodded at Hiro as he wandered back towards his friends. "Me. So. Full." Hiro moaned, rubbing his stomach, he shoved his way past K and Jared.

"That was great Hiro! But you only ate two pies," acknowledged Jared.

Hiro's face went blank and he turned on the man. "Get him away from me before I sock him," Hiro warned, he turned back and shuffled as far as he could from the pie stand. He didn't even want to smell them anymore!

K tried not to simper and looked as apologetically as he could at Jared, "I'm sure he didn't mean that…he's just, not feeling too well. Catch you guys later!" K caught up to Hiro and urged him to go to the truck and that he'd be there in a minute. Hiro nodded heading for the truck without question. First K wanted to get his prize and trophy…he walked by the puppies. K stopped in his tracks.

"Hey, where's Hiroshi going?" Aunt Margaret questioned meeting up with K, looking over as Hiro waddled away.

"Pies," K muttered as he chewed on a thought.

The old woman put a hand to her mouth, "Oh no, he didn't?"

Hmm, they were pretty cute. "Yup, he did. Don't worry I have a plan of action. He'll feel better shortly.

Margaret saw where K was looking, "A puppy?"

"Hmm, I dunno…I had another plan in mind, it's gross but it'll cure him," K offered and smirked at his aunt. He grabbed his trophy and prize gun.

"Well, give Hiro a big hug and kiss for me, ok?" said the woman.

Wha? K looked oddly at his aunt, he wasn't sure if he should even acknowledge such a statement. She only winked at him and wandered back to her stand.

At the truck, Hiro grunted as he climbed in, there was no way he could drive now. So he sat in the passenger seat and sprawled himself, laying his head back. "Never again, man, never again…" he groused to himself. He closed his eyes and patted his poor tummy, feeling like such an idiot, hoping he would make it home before he hurled. Even replaying K's declaration of love today wasn't helping.

The torturous minutes ticked by and Hiro wondered what was taking K so long! He opened his eyes just as K tapped on the passenger window next to him.

There K stood with two golden puppies in his arms, along with a trophy and two guns cases. "Open the door will ya, all this is getting heavy," K protested loudly.

Oh! For a moment Hiro forgot about his gastronomical distress. He opened the door quickly and K shuffled the two puppies onto his lap. They wriggled and stomped their tiny feet over his lap and his stomach, licking at his face.

Hiro groaned.

K carefully dropped the other stuff in the back and got into the driver's side, he looked over at the frenzied puppy display.

"I can't believe it," Hiro uttered stupendously. "Two, but what changed your mind?"

The puppies attacked K then, and he laughed as both began to lick and sniff at one of his ears. "Because…" He started giggling, "…you're such a good sport Hiro…" laugh "…and I thought I should be too."

Hiro chortled at how silly K sounded as the pups made him laugh. But he groaned again as the laughter made his gut hurt. "Can we please go home now?" Hiro bemoaned.

K had to save himself from licks so he could start the engine. In moments they were on the highway driving by corn fields, headed home. That's when K looked over at Hiro; it was time to cure Hiro of his problem. K asked pleasantly, "How about we stop for ice cream smothered in gooey warm chocolate sauce and bananas, oh, and lots of whipped cream…you know, to go with that apple pie Hiro?"

Gaping at K, Hiro clapped a hand to his mouth, "Stop the truck! I think I'm gonna—"

Grinning, K was more than ready to stop the truck alright; he did quickly as Hiro jumped out and fell to his knees over a ditch. K whistled innocently and patted his lap so the dogs would stay in the truck. They came bouncing over. "You see?" he said to the puppies, "I knew that would work, he'll feel better in a few moments."

A/N: I couldn't resist doing the country fair chapter. Haha it was fun doing this chapter, I love doing comedy lol. Poor Hiro XD I knew K couldn't stay away from the gun competition. Hope you enjoy!

Reviewers: It was great to see the positive response from the last chapter! Thank you Sailorlight22 (I wish we had Chuck at my work cooking would be so easy lulz. Ha, I finished my prompt..it's silly..waiting for it to be beta'd. No worries about not commenting before, hope you're better hun!), geka0taitsume0taikaiyou, MsBushido, Hikari Manganji, Kailey Hamliton (I thought your English was excellent in the review hun. Thanks muchly for your nice words. Naw, no writing career for me XD...editors would hate me lol. It's great to hear you like my style, often I'm envious of other writers and their styles XD so that meant a lot! -hugs-), mio32, Nattle the Nettle (K and Michael are SO cute huh? I love them too! No worries, I don't think K will really find out about what Hiro did.), kayakun, teary-eyedgoddes, Sangokagome, aoh (Micheal is about nine or ten in this fic. K was alone for 4 years after the divorce. Yeah K should and would be mad, that's why Hiro and Judy will keep it a secret -grin- they know K too well), LucianaSkyle (w00t! Thanks hun!), spirtually-lunar (thanks for the review and for the suggestions. Although, I have already written a story where K and Hiro adopt a little girl. It was a part of my Gun and Guitar arc I wrote and posted on AFF, actually it's part 3. So thanks again, but I can't do that again lol If you're interested in that story check out my profile.)